Return to the Place of the Dead (1997) Documentary (Network First)

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

"Return to the Place of the Dead" is a gripping documentary recounting the experiences of a British Army expedition in 1994 to Mount Kinabalu and Lowe's Gully in Borneo. The team faced significant challenges including treacherous terrain, physical exhaustion, and personal struggles. The expedition, split into two groups, highlights the tension between personal goals and team responsibilities, as well as the ultimate reliance on local villagers for survival. The narrative offers an insight into the sense of respect and mystery surrounding the jungle environment and the spiritual beliefs of the locals.

Highlights

The legend of a spirit dragon guarding the gully's souls infuses an exciting mystical element to the expedition. 🐉
Surviving the jungle became an incredible tale of endurance - both physically and mentally. 💪
Villagers played a pivotal role, saving the lives of the soldiers by offering shelter and aid. 🛖
The search for the lost video tapes is a haunting reminder of the treacherous adventure. 📼
Naming the waterfalls Roberts Falls signifies a deep personal connection to the place, merging triumph with nostalgia. 💧

Key Takeaways

The spirit dragon of the gully is said to guard souls, adding an eerie mystique to the area. 🐉
An expedition to conquer Lowe's Gully turned into a survival story, highlighting the jungle's imposing nature. 🌿
Strong bonds with local villagers were crucial for the expedition's survival, showcasing the power of human connection. 🤝
A personal journey of facing fears and past traumas, culminating in healing and closure. ❤️‍🩹
The jungle's untouched beauty and daunting challenges hold secrets that might never be fully uncovered. 🌄

Overview

"Return to the Place of the Dead" takes us on a harrowing yet captivating journey as we follow a British Army expedition intent on conquering Lowe's Gully in Borneo. What starts as a quest for adventure quickly turns into a test of survival against the unforgiving forces of nature. The documentary paints a vivid picture of the jungle's mystery, fraught with legends and physical challenges that push each member to their limits.

The adventure is not just about the physical struggle but also a deeply personal journey for the expedition members. Their story is interwoven with local legends about spirit dragons, adding a layer of mystique and danger. As they battle the elements, the soldiers forge deep connections with the villagers, who ultimately become their lifeline. These bonds highlight the importance of empathy, cooperation, and cultural respect.

Despite the trials, there's a powerful narrative of healing and closure. The protagonists confront their fears, seek forgiveness, and mourn losses, all while paying tribute to their perilous quest through symbolic gestures like naming waterfalls. Even as they leave, the mountain keeps its secrets, and the lost tapes remain a ghostly reminder of their extraordinary adventure.

Chapters

00:00 - 03:00: Introduction to the Gully The chapter 'Introduction to the Gully' starts with a local myth about a place known as 'the gully', which is believed to be a resting place for spirits after death. Locals say that when someone dies, their spirit is taken from their body and placed into the gully for safekeeping. A spirit dragon, described as a large mythical creature, is said to be the guardian of these souls in the gully.
03:00 - 10:00: The 1994 British Army Expedition The chapter titled "The 1994 British Army Expedition" discusses an ancient mythological story about a pearl guarded by a dragon atop a mountain. It mentions that in the last century, a Chinese expedition tried to steal the pearl but failed and was cursed by the dragon. The curse stated that anyone who stepped on the mountain would be doomed. This legend adds to the mystique surrounding the mountain, capturing the imagination and cautioning those who might attempt to explore it.
10:00 - 18:00: Challenges and Mysteries of Lowe's Gully The chapter explores the enigmatic and mystical allure of Lowe's Gully, drawing comparisons to global mysteries like the Yeti. The narrator expresses a belief in an unexplained presence within the gully, emphasizing the impossibility of fully understanding it without personal experience. Despite the dangers faced during previous expeditions, such as a near-fatal incident, there remains a deep-seated desire to return, fueled by curiosity and the villagers' accounts, as well as the hope of discovering a video from a past venture.
18:00 - 25:00: The Point of No Return In February 1994, a significant event unfolded involving the British Army. This chapter explores the critical moments and decisions that led up to this pivotal point, marking a 'point of no return' in the historical timeline. The narrative delves into the implications and the subsequent actions taken by the Army, setting the stage for the unfolding events that would follow.
25:00 - 35:00: Confronting Fears and Past Traumas In the chapter titled 'Confronting Fears and Past Traumas,' an expedition team consisting of two officers, five NCOs, and three Hong Kong Chinese soldiers embarks on a historic mission to conquer Mount Kinabalu and Lowe's Gully. The adventure makes headlines worldwide as the team narrowly avoids disaster, facing both the physical challenges of the harsh environment and their internal struggles. Amidst this perilous journey, they grapple with past traumas and fears, testing the limits of their endurance and camaraderie. Despite the danger, all ten men manage to escape unharmed, marking the expedition as a monumental feat and a transformative experience for the team members.
35:00 - 48:00: Survival and Rescue The chapter 'Survival and Rescue' revolves around an adventurous expedition aimed at achieving a world’s first by exploring the ice. The narrative captures the ambition and determination of the participants who sought to leave a mark in history. Despite facing challenges symbolized by the 'fight with the gummy,' the expedition crew was determined to achieve their goals.
48:00 - 62:00: Reunion with the Village The narrator describes a challenging period of time that they compare to an epoch. They mention entering the 'gully melee' at nine and a half stone and coming out at seven stone, indicating significant physical and possibly emotional hardship. The narrator comments on how terrible 'he' looked, comparing the appearance to that of a concentration camp survivor. This led to an emotional reaction where the narrator cried upon seeing 'him' unclothed. Despite previous hopes and organized intentions for 'him', there were unforeseen difficulties or hesitations. It reflects on the unexpected challenges and emotional weight of the situation.
62:00 - 75:00: Departure and Reflection The narrator expresses apprehension about returning to a village, mainly to thank the villagers and retrieve some lost videos. After an abseiling adventure down waterfalls, the narrator names one of the waterfalls 'Roberts Falls' in honor of their son. They record a message for Robert and Sue in case they do not survive, but sadly lose the video.

Return to the Place of the Dead (1997) Documentary (Network First) Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 [Music] the locals called the gully the coming of the dead they say that when you die on your spirit and your soul is taken out of your body and put into the gully for safekeeping and the thing that's the keeper of the gully is a spirit dragon they were said to be a large dragon
00:30 - 01:00 guarding a pearl right at the very top of those clearly some time during the last century there's a Chinese expedition that attempted to steal this pearl from the dragon the dragon then cursed the Chinese if any people set foot on the mountain then they'd be doomed there's a mystique about a lot of places
01:00 - 01:30 all over the world if you into triangle the Yeti there's all these mystical things unless you've experienced the gully and felt it then is very difficult to explain to anybody I believe there's something in there we've always wanted to return to fact the villages and to find a video of the expedition I have to dump in the gully last time the gully nearly killed us to run so much I got
01:30 - 02:00 in February 1994 a British Army
02:00 - 02:30 expedition comprising two officers five NCOs and three Hong Kong Chinese soldiers set out to become the first to climb Mount Kinabalu then enter and conquer Lowe's gully the expedition made world headlines would have ended in disaster and all 10 men were lucky to escape alive from the place of the Dead it was a trip of a lifetime to Bornean
02:30 - 03:00 the biggest draw to the ice expedition was that they were going to try to achieve a world's first 38 at the time being a painter and a doctor and even though I'm in the TA to actually put a mark somewhere in history and was was too much of a challenge to turn down fight that we had with the gummy is also with them and with whatever was in there
03:00 - 03:30 to get out was an epoch in itself I went into the gully melee I think nine and a half stone and I came out of seven stone he looked terrible he really did look terrible it was something like from a concentration camp I cried when he took his clothes off if I really didn't wanted to go and he wouldn't go I mean it was supposed to have been very organised first time and I didn't have any worries of him going and obviously
03:30 - 04:00 it all turned out wrong so yes I am a little bit apprehensive I've got to go back first and foremost to thank the villages for what they've done for us but secondly to look for my videos we had abseiled down these waterfalls and I decided to actually name one of them Roberts Falls after my son once I've finished video and Roberts Falls I decided to make a last sort of message to Robert and sue just in case I didn't survive unfortunately I lost the actual
04:00 - 04:30 video box in a four-layer on this is the actual box that we're looking for that's what the actual films that are in and that's what we're about to attempt to look for the prospects of going back I think are quite daunting and I feel very apprehensive like going back into the jungle although were considerably better prepared this time to go back there it reminds me just how close everything was how close you were so I'm not making it
04:30 - 05:00 since I returned back to UK my life's been turned upside down and American forces mom I was just as broken up I think the jungle is one of the major contributions to everything up there's a lot of pressure from both the military and the press that some of the events I'm considerably afterwards the expedition had split into two the front
05:00 - 05:30 group who escaped and raised the alarm and the rear group we then needed rescuing the British expedition began on February 22nd at the summit they split into two groups the younger group making the faster descent down easy valley a 500-foot rock face needing eight abseils an area of rock pools and a mile long section of waterfalls and Rapids into lows gully dropping 2,000 feet when we returned we were told to say nothing
05:30 - 06:00 until the official inquiry but then Colonel Neill gave his press conference the leader of the army expedition lost in the rain forests of Borneo has criticized fellow soldiers for leaving him behind with what he called oldies and novices I had six I think you can call them with it's fit guys airborne soldiers commander soldiers I am angry that half of my expedition proceeded on down the gully without my authorization
06:00 - 06:30 the way the minute we treated me and my wife was quite atrocious and that put a lot of strain on our marriage and we should talking I think which which was all made you down for then one day I come back from working and she had left taking the kids away I was later completely vindicated by the Board of Inquiry in fact they commended my conduct but it was too late by then
06:30 - 07:00 to return now will be in a way exercising the ghost if I can go back in and face it and almost we live it I can come to terms with it and then I could get on with the rest of my life afterwards we're going in there a little bit wiser and with a bit more respect and by going
07:00 - 07:30 in with a bit more respect and be a bit more courteous to the gully and to the moment then I feel that we might retrieve our videos to reach low Scully have to climb Mount Kinabalu and then leave the tourist trail near the peak and enter easy Valley which leads down until those gully proper on this
07:30 - 08:00 expedition I feel we have been more respectful we have listened to the locals we have appeased the mountain spirit and with John Reese's our guide we've got a man who has lived in cyber for years and knows the mountain Wow on the original expedition things started to go wrong from day one wasps were still on the tourist path Chinese were told that they were just coming up the million I'm going back down the mountain like the tourist thing I don't think they were fully aware of them or fully
08:00 - 08:30 anticipate what we were about to do and I think it come as a bit of a shock more so because of the physical effort of carrying quite a lot of weight this is a spot where the first major incident happened and it was very one of the Chinese young soldiers actually collapsed a Chow me and Colonel Niamh Foster was walking at the pass that came around the corner and found child turtle up on his back this birthing now it's a classic a case of exhaustion at the
08:30 - 09:00 beginning the expedition Cohen they'll explain that being different levels of fitness within the group is that we would make our own own way in our own time but to stay roughly with it just couples the problem being is that Chow got separated from the front group and consequently ended up on his own and went down with exhaustion we helped challenge others up to the hut where the whole apart he was reunited and an expedition meeting was called it was my chance to air the views of the happenings of the day
09:00 - 09:30 which actually came out with and he couldn't get nine nine kilometers out the gully yeah whereupon he was told that economy was the man in charge Colonel said that it was his expedition he had organized a headland a he was running in he was exhibition leader he'd helped fund it and what he said went basically wait dinners relieved me of my position on an expedition as technical advisor my main concern was if we went into the gully well I knew that Colonel
09:30 - 10:00 Neill major foster wasn't up to it physically and a-three Chinese Kevin Chow and Victor weren't up to it technically we was asking for trouble if we went in there yeah things are gonna get bad we should have stopped the exhibition the colonel they all had big early setting his sights and he's gonna do it whether it it killed him or not I think that's when the execution split psychologically if not physically did
10:00 - 10:30 he'd be safe on this trip my son Robert gave me a baseball cap he said it was gonna be my lucky charm he's got it in his collection he's got a bottom drawer of all these baseball caps he dug this one out and let me have this one it comes everywhere with me on the expedition for the simple reason is that on the last one I carried it is I bought a little bug in plastic down at Park HQ and I felt that if I had that on me then I would get out to give it to him and I
10:30 - 11:00 feel that he's with me if I got the hat line that's basically audience in order to reach lows gully you have to veer off on a steeper path that takes you to the entrance of easy Valley we're still on the lip of of easy valley this is the demarcation line between the tourist side and the north side behind me is is easy Valley and if you if you can see in the shot there's several very large cliffs in the background which ants on the map which was a bit confusing for
11:00 - 11:30 everybody when we first arrived my views were ever named em something a comedian some hits it was quite or inspiring and once you get down into the valley it's very difficult to be heard or seen from anywhere so it's quite a serious place if you had an incident down there we entered the valley and within an hour we reached one of the original camps from the rear group at the time I was in the group with Colonel Neill major foster and three Chinese lads and it was
11:30 - 12:00 here that I spent one of the worst nights of my life we bedded down for the night probably about Claridge about 10 o'clock I must have nodded off and went on about one o'clock in the morning I heard one of the big slabs move it after about two minutes I heard a like something of wood and quite a heavy footprint on wood and after about five minutes I started getting a scratching on the actual memory bank it's quite eerie I see who's
12:00 - 12:30 fighting really really funny I must have shot up there look around with drainpipe shouting at the top of my voice but upon this I mean I'd be torch I mean I know I saw it was a maybe I was so frightened but it was a shape of a reasonably sized man running through the bush same man I mean the shape was human I run it through the bush there I mean it's so stupid now eighteen months later but
12:30 - 13:00 it's not to me is that I believe that there's something here and quite rightly so it's a it's an amazing place we passed the camp and carried on deeper into the valley towards what we called the point of no return it was only 11:00 in the morning but already the mist was rolling in bringing with it rain showing how quickly the weather can change inside easy valley we entered one of the small areas of thick jungle in the valley on the first expedition I'd left the rear group at the camp to join the
13:00 - 13:30 others and because the jungle was so thick I might not pass with green plastic bags tied to branches and after 18 months he was still in there by the time we came out the rain had become very heavy from the pocket of jungle we pushed on towards a large slab of rock which we named alpha Burt Rock because we suck playing word games there to pass the time this area that we're on now is called alphabet rock you waited here for
13:30 - 14:00 the 3 nights and 4 days I waited for curiata catches her from over the cold easy Valley it was planned to take half a day in reality it took him almost five days we got through almost four days worth of food that was almost half off food we were very anxious I push forwards down to Lone Tree and set up a couple of abseils there's at that point that I realized that the information that we've been given was very
14:00 - 14:30 inaccurate what was supposed to be a to pick up cell turned out to be almost 2000 feet and we didn't have enough ropes to secure that area in case you may need to get back out again so once we'd gone down there that would be it would have to do it all or die without alphabet Rock as you can see from the the weather changes very rapidly only about an hour ago that we actually wearing sunblock we started to rain we
14:30 - 15:00 stuck some tensor and this is what we get it's worried she just let us see what she can big night really you do get flash it's just a bit frightening missing our only option was to sit and wait fortunately for us the rain stopped and by morning the valley had rained so we set off to long trade which marks the start as a massive drop into the abyss of Lowe's Colleen this is the end of
15:00 - 15:30 easy value which is a hanging valley drops about 2,000 feet into lows gully proper once we start up saying then there I'm pulling on ropes through that was it we were totally committed it's all that water last night's coming from the amphitheater yes down here basically in going yeah I mean all this rock faces well it's all coming off there the only place I can go is down to square yeah
15:30 - 16:00 feeds a tremendous amount doesn't it yeah I mean it looks so easy doesn't it from here and then over here we can see the the ridge that you took out come to that one running running east-west and then the one in the shadow under the cloud that takes you the moment covered yeah I think seen this drop I went back to Camille who by then who'd reached alphabet Rock and I expected him to abandon the whole expedition I felt that and Exce should have been called at this stage because we'd come up against a 2004 upsell which would only plan for it
16:00 - 16:30 to be a hundred meters and that's about three hundred foot at this stage we was on plan day one of the expedition but this was actually day six so in reality at that stage I think everybody realized in the front group at least that we would go maybe two or three days without food and what was Colonel Neal's attitude to that and push on see what happens I said would wait at the bottom
16:30 - 17:00 of the Galician MT catches up until tomorrow morning and if they weren't there by tomorrow morning we'd push on in reality we waited until about 11 o'clock and what happened nothing and we came to the conclusion that the others had bottled and I decided not to commit themselves down a large abseils we were committed we couldn't get back up so we had no choice in the matter we had to go for it that was the final split the next time I saw Colonel Neill was at the official board of inquiry months later
17:00 - 17:30 Wien paper my chopper and should end up in Bachmann lungs belly we're gonna set up a base camp from there we're gonna to gone out and hopefully set up some more camps to look for the videos that was left on one of the ridges up there Moochie best described is actually facing the coast and not just say it's a unnatural video tapes is my vision diary of the expedition and I'd like the
17:30 - 18:00 retrieval at the time we weren't sure whether we were getting out by the time I didn't think we were gonna get out and the only thing that I thought that would survive is these particular videos those ironically as I got out in the videos didn't [Music] the places you're so awe-inspiring so we're especially steep and dangerous and hostile that is it's enough to speak anybody any way without thought of Legends and bursting places of the Dead
18:00 - 18:30 Souls and things in the alley copter all I kept saying is I can't believe we go there I wasn't pale because of the helicopter ride that doesn't bother me at all it was Noah nervous no one spent four days no not know what the terrain was like Tamara how negative you are about it and how how much you try to get it across how difficult is you just we will get it across and then we'll knots away after telling everybody how difficult it was I
18:30 - 19:00 couldn't believe it myself to be honest if you had given me the choice tone then I'd have stayed on the helicopter and flown out these I mean to think when we lose up let me first of all that when I wear it didn't seem so
19:00 - 19:30 bad I just drop them down into it you start looking at the sweetness of old and the think sides gets deeper there you get for a steeper and speed then when you get down here think yeah you know no wonder it was so cold down here any sunlight to think we actually got down this stuff in which you've got the five of us atlas stuff like that I mean summit of kinabalu which is over my left shoulder here
19:30 - 20:00 here at the bottom left-hand corner of the map Mullen Kappa Kappa was over in this direction that River just about the 4504 calm we think that the videos are within about half to one kilometer upstream in this direction the waterfalls Roberts waterfall that the bob name is here where two rivers means about [Music]
20:00 - 20:30 going upstream here the first half kilometer is fairly fairly easy we can past there but once we turn right onto another river it becomes almost vertical again and this very loose vegetation just clinging to the bare rock we're going to be talking about moving through very dense undergrowth possibly following small rivers like this and moving on almost vertical clips and rocks depending of course on the exact location I think it was good to get back
20:30 - 21:00 in there I'd see the training I'm become used to it when I was back in England I found it quite hard to look at green things and just being out in the garden with grass and trees around me it was quite hard my was inhospitable there was green and brown curtains on my bed then if it sounded true the curtains had to look at the ceiling which was white or voice out I'd stop panicking moving
21:00 - 21:30 downhill slowly down the river you can see the vegetation on either side where the log chicken fell and all the logs have been felled all facing downstream that's because when it floods both were standing on now is water water warm when it floods the hole in so it must just be filled pool full of water it wasn't quite that bad to move down here but it was getting close that way ginger a lot
21:30 - 22:00 of the vegetation is on a very very thin layer of topsoil and the topsoil is held together by the vegetation so as soon as you start pulling on the vegetation if something big comes off like a small tree or bush it tends to take all the top layer of swirl with you leaving bare wet Rock
22:00 - 22:30 which is very difficult to climb this is a very very hard to read you'll never ever get it across to the people what it's like in you you'll never do it and where the ground just gives away but if you say the the Indiana Jones stuff it really is useful and quite regular basis several times a day everybody was it's quite dangerous in in certain places my father were stuffed
22:30 - 23:00 vegetation we came across word what we dick named bastard trees because they started off really small and got two six seven eight feet high and the main problem of the with these bastard trees were tentacles and tentacles couldn't grow to several meters long very very thin that would allow you to walk into the tree but it wouldn't allow you to walk out and once you've got hold of you you had to literally oh you clip it from your skin or your
23:00 - 23:30 clothing and then put it down verbal bastard tree they disguise and then there I was just basically wearing shorts both were it just assumes you're holding it you just have lots of really small Rip's and tears in his skin or the thighs in your arms any anything else exposed really but he's coming down off off this Ridge here and bob was hacking his his way through this particularly thick mustard tree and I see he cut through the main stem unless he went to
23:30 - 24:00 step through the grounded taking clatter it's quite a steep slope like to step through he slipped and I like remembers seeing Bob fighting his way through this tree and then the tree just seems eating nice he was gone so I was now going chest first down the slope and I could see out in front of me and I still had to pray anymore right hand the problem was is that I had it tied round no it didn't have a tire on there and I had actually in my hand so and as I saw the rock coming towards me
24:00 - 24:30 I put out my right hand probably stupidly but put it out with the momentum of me going down and the machete in rock my hand just slipped right off the blade off the emotional handle and along the blade and the actual blade just bowed itself into three of the fingers I go to where Bob had fallen and I couldn't see him so I just carried on going slowly to hang on down on the drop and I heard Bob shouting for the first-aid kit me and was like on the floor and I was
24:30 - 25:00 on me back look all I could see was with fingers but the thing being is that the actual blade was embedded in my hand and the blood was coming down the blade so I sort of got up on my knees and I couldn't help but pick it up it was embedded and actually started peeling my fingers from the actual blade you could see the bone through the cut but my main priority was to get moving again just bandaged it up so it stopped stop the bleeding and then get moving so just and you just hand into this kind of position so if you'd still use the prime and
25:00 - 25:30 still climb at first I thought if we could get out within two days and at least on I'd be it should be just infected but if you're I come they ain't I thought Earth's at best I lose me fingers at worst on lose me on there's no doubt about that I mean they were the size of they wrote the actual with fatness of the thing fingers was run out they were black stinking [ __ ] and I shared my all I'm starting to swell up me and was going black she immediately
25:30 - 26:00 went into nervous shock but lose a real chance I went to to shock which would have been I would have to leave he wouldn't have been able to carry on as we were climbing you come to sheer rock bands like that they're something that you can't see from the era where and that would push you in different directions ah so these sriracha is a bit of a frustrating because we could see where we wanted to go so we couldn't get there
26:00 - 26:30 so we might go down often hour two hours three hours don't river and find that we couldn't talk so it'd have to go way back up and then trying traverse either up or down it was just potluck jungle with you videos probably about a kilometer as you can see the train is huh bleep 2,000 feet up yeah they have a coma
26:30 - 27:00 very very steep we'll definitely be about 4 o'clock 4:30 that we actually start looking for a site and there's no dusk here and it just suddenly drops within about 10 15 minutes so depending on where you are is where your sleep basically we did initially start by trying to clear most of like you said to do it now most of the foliage and the big rocks what we do then is we probably get out the baby bags before we gain we actually
27:00 - 27:30 strip off to what we're actually going to sleep in and check each other over the leeches we had quite a big from the leeches mostly walking through this kind of foliage they just drop onto us and we pull up our boots sue them were with quite a lot of jive one in my mouth when I was a Steve posts inside this the baby bag and I thought I had I thought I found my mouth and my lip was swelling I was until I felt at movie but I put my fingers inside in there and pulled the
27:30 - 28:00 leech out is in between math I top teeth in my I'm a lift okay Bob's got a few leeches here yeah excellent all right I just get off be a pop and this these two a suppose the several ways you can get them off but the best way we found was to get just getting the pry and just slice them off it's quite a big league just been feeding for about 20 minutes now I think it's just about full there's several
28:00 - 28:30 ways to get it off but I follow the best ways to use a bit of insect repellent and just place it on the top it's very firm to touch and it should let go you see it start to do we call back now honey get away from the repellent what it does is it melts the main body and it disintegrates into two halves adios you see that trying to turn to escape it
28:30 - 29:00 was leap city in the area come morning it was a bloodbath and the time it seemed like they were draining the life out of the fascinating creatures leeches something they just seemed to to hang around in the bush waiting for a lost home he expeditions or or some some mammals wait
29:00 - 29:30 nice retrieved we'd have a bad tournament that was my time to contribute to Richard I would talk to him all night I would rub his back I would say things about the family I would say things about things off I haven't talked to anybody about not even the wife because it didn't matter you know it was just to keep Richard happy I told him about my past and we mother and all things and things that you just wouldn't talk about normally I was getting reoccurring that
29:30 - 30:00 Mercer then consisted of a dreamer I was safe those back at home and the family in the kids I think back to what happened but I'd go through all the the arguments on the wrong side I'm the first side of the mountain and everything that happened on the way down the split until that particular day and then I'd start to panic because I couldn't member getting out and it was it was the fact
30:00 - 30:30 that they couldn't make the connection between the world wasn't my dream which is reality where I thought I was a reality which was my dream day before we got out I had to fit about a 30-foot fall into into some water and because the cold the water I worked myself and for several weeks after that I was having the real the reoccurring dream and every time I'd get to the waterfall I've got myself it was quite as quite scary I was on there sedatives for quite
30:30 - 31:00 a while I'm the original expedition who had been on the ridges then we'd hit a rock face and inevitably we had to head back down towards the river to avoid this shakily walls Wow the long way down so won't wait handsome today to me
31:00 - 31:30 she gave our Nets one Lincoln Richard had the responsibility of getting all the five of us through orbits landing and side of it and was shimmying up and down roads like a monkey which was physically exhausting and the pressure on him was exhausted mentally because I was the only
31:30 - 32:00 competent Lance near climber there there was a lot of pressure on me to to get the rope sorted out and to get everything down the safety and as quickly as possible when I was absolutely I didn't know what was below me or above me off it's a wider side and I was by myself so I was tackling your life
32:00 - 32:30 but very up my depth you know I'm very alone it was during one of the upsells that paid Shira one in five of us in the front group had had his accident Pete came down and as he jumped sponsored that treat gave way I looked up and I could see him falling his feet caught on some vines and starts somersaulting through the air he land on a Ledge about 20 foot above me on his
32:30 - 33:00 back he bounced off that ledge and carried on somersaulting and that she landed about 5 foot away from me on a rock with the full wavers whoops I like that I thought he was dead and the first thought I had was if you've got a casualty that can't walk we're gonna have to leave somebody behind with him yeah and if it was obvious that he was going to die how would that person feel haven't been left behind with a casualty
33:00 - 33:30 and the casualty died with no food that I wouldn't have liked to have been that person left behind I don't think anybody else would have relished that idea either the first thing that entered into my mind was well did we just leave him to die or do we finish him off he went to a lot I think more so than than most of the people I could see the way that he was deteriorated just a couple of days after that for I'm not sure whether I could have gotten out after going
33:30 - 34:00 through what he went through Peter followed Britain and Paige to safety on day 10 Bob and I split up from the others they still had food and we didn't want to force them to show so he record forwards and somehow got split but when we came out Britain accused us of dumping them with the casualty I can see its point of view where when he come back down the path de be found to avoid gets to kick he took it upon
34:00 - 34:30 himself to think that with good left in the potential to I think was more likely to get out as a 5 then there's a - it was very psychological and both farmer Al's took the massive down from it as soon as she realized that we'd lost them we flipped the steepness of the sides and vegetation and I'm amazed I ever got out what we actually fought our way out through to me seems impossible
34:30 - 35:00 we got the stage again where we weren't quite sure it they it was physically and mentally gone that time he got out too many kept a fight it was loose on the westlakes it's quite obvious 3 that there was a lot to eat and then on the other hand it was quite obvious that a lot of it could very well be poisonous we could go for it and probably get out without eating or we could eat something and then risk being ill I'm not getting
35:00 - 35:30 up because we tried to eat something by the time we got out I don't think I'd been able to go another 12 hours I mean literally the state that that he thinks I'd have gone within 12 hours either probably lasted another 36 maybe not one banana on day five this expedition the rain came in making the ground even more treacherous
35:30 - 36:00 well I think this as far as we go it's just more and more rocks and then finally asleep rock band up there and with this raid really slippery don't recommend going on at all when John said it was too dangerous to carry on I was poor sad about the videos but also part relieves to be able to get out of the jungle she showed us what she had but she doesn't
36:00 - 36:30 want nobody else to see it that's fair enough I mean I've got out there with me like she's kept my videos it's the way it goes sometime in the future be it ten twenty years time when she's ready for people to see what she's really like inside she'll have something back once it was obvious we won't once get the videos it was a case of getting out of the gully as quickly as possible on the original trip it took us six days before we came across the first sign of life and that was a simple bridge over the river leading to the village a bridge of
36:30 - 37:00 bridge I thought station I started laughing it's all I saw the bridge and then it's very emotional the bridge was completely different I don't think it been rebuilt I think it's just where I'd remembered it was different the bridge was exactly as I remember but we have visions are from
37:00 - 37:30 the bridge to the heart has been more little boy but it wasn't it was eight minutes walk it seems in my mind that it's because powers and they did there's a big decision to be made which way to go on the path because it might either be a few hundred meters one way or few kilometers do the way it was a few kilometers then the chapters are we probably would have made it
37:30 - 38:00 we started walking from the bottom of the gully bottom the valley down there it took us approximately about five four and a half to five hours to get to the spot that I am in at the moment on the way we came across a hut just further down the hill whereupon we went in and found plastic bag with some fish heads in it in which he decided that we should get someone to me off the fish heads whereupon we was quite violently ill but
38:00 - 38:30 so on that we actually cleaned the harp and started walking we was quite exhausted again we started walking further on up the hill and then got to the crest of the hill when I was at the front of it Lampert at the moment in time look to my left and I saw quite a straight line over in the distance there which was a telegraph pole whereupon Richard caught up with me so what you're looking at and I thought nothing and just kept walking but I only walked for another five meters and stopped again whereupon I looked again and I said can
38:30 - 39:00 you see what I can see and he said something 7s Alex Hoffman we started walking around because this in front of us was a lot more strawberry than we'll see her now walked around the corner whereupon it was our first glimpse of camp on melech up kappa we just carried on up the bank i think by the time we got to top we was both physically exhausted by that time i
39:00 - 39:30 got to this this style i attempted to climb over it but as i climbed over it i think my foot caught on this pole i ended up on my back on the floor here and I took off my look sack on the floor got back up onto my feet and walked along this path into the hurt I was confronted by this little girl that was the same ages is Claire my daughter
39:30 - 40:00 called Jenna and she just stared at me I think I've scared a cry too hot I went straight into the kitchen and started eating rice out of the boiler that was still boiling but some I got here yeah I'd lost track of him I've come across the first star and klonda with the first off and staggered up to the just a bush right in front of me there well I know it's another style to the left carried on for about another three four meters that's all and just collapse in the heap and whereupon a little boy
40:00 - 40:30 came across I didn't know his name at the time I know now it's little boy for losing and started jabbering away it in Malayan doping avoid you get the budget they have never done you see keep them pockets in or can little Jeff [Music]
40:30 - 41:00 I find it very hard not to start crying myself if you know some of the respects but the other ones and bekommen was back like a man act properly Bob did the clever thing in bar straight into the
41:00 - 41:30 hurt and through the older me chemical start hugging me and crying I was stopping a bit to go back and see it again was quite emotional because it reminds you just how close everything was [Music]
41:30 - 42:00 [Music] yeah well she said she was inside this room changing room and she was coming out and all she could see was a big fetal Bluebird so we took a Polaroid
42:00 - 42:30 camera as one of the presents for the village and everyone went to the picture it's amazing to think I'm friendly and
42:30 - 43:00 helpful the village were when we stumbled out and it's no exaggeration to say they saved our lives one of the elders came in sat me down at this table and she saw us in a very bad way and all I wish to do is he and they started piling food in front of me a few minutes later Bob came in followed by half a million children who all piled into the room in there we couldn't move periodically they kept bringing in more plates of food in we 1888
43:00 - 43:30 it was very emotional Baban we touched hands and said you made it we told the villages where we come from from from the mountain and there they didn't believe that that we'd come down off the mountain from the north side one ladies went away and came back with some stuff for our wounds and while she was doing them and I sort of took me hand up its face to face her and she sort of step back a bit something was
43:30 - 44:00 quite quite horrendous of quite swollen and pasión quite manky been infected for about eight days so she went away and got mrs. Lynde Poli this old lady and there's some sort of stuff with her I think Richard best described is the jar of dead things he didn't everybody had peanut had us have been an apple the lad not don't buy dude I think she
44:00 - 44:30 actually put something linear to started to do the hand it started like a deep heat and they started sort of working his way up me on where quite a line going on with the infection and it just slowly started easy this is the actual one that she had at the time thank you it's quite there there's no head on here the moment the skin is actually coming off and they still put some pieces in the bottom there's a skin where but
44:30 - 45:00 apparently the actual snakes got to be shedding its skin at the sign that they actually catch it yeah the original one like so so we've been informed what it done is it completely cleaned the wound has already been in hospital need actually cleaned it with a disinfectant it's only saved me fingers I think they push the boat out as far as they cared and made us feel as welcoming
45:00 - 45:30 I did I think they could I have a big difference this is Malaysia - she must be petrified shorts my big boots I don't see just
45:30 - 46:00 stared at me I think I got my works out inset and shown us some money he says feed me and she run off to get home [Music] [Music]
46:00 - 46:30 [Music] the first person that I thought hopes a special part in both our hearts and we want to present this to him represents something from my heart we wish to give
46:30 - 47:00 this presentation dagger yummy I thought the hardest thing would have been going into the village it wasn't the hardest thing was trying to steel yourself for the situation's of leaving
47:00 - 47:30 the pony said something which was quite true and chilled me up quite long she will never see us again Kazuma range and it hurts me to feel that she's gonna be hurt because the village fuels like that my second time
47:30 - 48:00 it feels very much as if I I belong there the part of my heart would always be a suit and Robert and the family and mother of Eleanor they got me anyway part of me will always be ammonia because of what the really done for us I'll put my arms around mr. Napoleon and he had the lady on that on the brand and I have to go it's time to go I know looking back just get get out of there
48:00 - 48:30 it was quite start leading a same device everybody well he's driving off it was always difficult but those are two mile he left the camp on they give us a national poll that was made from the earth of mana cap Kappa
48:30 - 49:00 I've always our visions have been buried at home that still stands I mean I would like to be two people and if the part of me died to me ashes to be put in the pot instead over even buried on moment of really wood before we left Borneo for good I was desperate to get one last look at Roberts Falls even if it was only from the air when we flew over I was gutted really again because I knew
49:00 - 49:30 that we couldn't get there we didn't get there I know the beauty of robust force there's probably a render struggle yells for the Tamiya seems beautiful but seeing it from the air I was visualizing it from the bottom again and our baby it was gut-wrenching to know that we couldn't get there she isn't meant to be done she's meant to be left well alone and to make it just one of those little mysteries nobody should ever call in here the nice thing was as we were
49:30 - 50:00 leaving we saw the head of the National Park and he agreed that from now on the war force will be officially named Roberts force on all their Maps as for the videos who knows I'd like to think the dragon his garden them as a new pearl [Music]
50:00 - 50:30 you you